Hummus for Winter 3 ways

My ritual for every Saturday night is to soak some chickpeas. Finding them all plumped up and shiny on Sunday morning makes me smile. I then make a cup of coffe while putting the chickpeas on a pressure cooker. Listening to that steamy sound of cooking chickpeas also makes me smile. Someone might ask why wouldn’t you just get a can of chickpeas? Isn’t it so much more convenient? Well, but opening a can of chickpeas isn’t something that makes you smile. Preparing your own chickpeas and cook it for homemade hummus is what the weekends are for, at least for me. You can make a fresh batch of hummus that will last over a week in your fridge (if you can resist finishing them up by Tuesday afternnon) just in 30 minutes. Who would need a can of chickpeas?

If you’re someone who would ask that question above and who loves anything that are in cans, you might find this post a bit too extra. But personally I don’t or I can even say NEVEReat anything from a can. I will save why and from when for another post. Here, I would like to write about just some beautifully colorful hummus that are perfect for winter. You can have them with bread, on a cracker, on a salad, or directly out from the container. And the colors are from naturally seasoner vegetables: carrots and beets.

But before going further, has anyone have been avoiding eating chickpeas due to its unique smell? I was not a fan of them to be honest. Its distinct smell filled my kitchen whenever I tried cooking them and I couldn’t bare it. So I stopped cooking them. Even with canned or jarred chicpeas, it’s hard to miss that smell. I don’t even know how to describe it but you know what I mean if you’ve ever tried boil some chickpeas. However, magically one day, my mother-in-law gave me this tip which was like a message from angels to me. It opened a whole new world of chickpeas. Now I love them so much I can’t live without them. So I make hummus every week.

Below I will share some tips and know-hows to show how to make colorful, healthy, but most of all delicious hummus. Let’s make lots of hummus in 3 ways for winter!

1. Basic Hummus

Ingredients

Dried, unsoaked chickpeas 100g

Water from cooking the chickpeas (a.k.a. Aquafaba) 1/4컵

Tahini 1 Tbsp

Extra virgin olive oil 1 Tbsp

1 Organic lemon* (If you can’t get a lemon, you can switch to 0.5cm thick piece of ginger with apple vinegar)

Garlic powder 1/2 tsp

Salt 1/2 tsp

*If you’re using normal lemon, please wash them very well in a hot water with vinegar and baking soda. It can have lots of residues from wax and chemicals!

How to make it

Soak the chickpeas at least 2 hours up to overnight. Soaked chickepas not only shortens the cooking time, but also makes it easier for our body to absorb all the amazing nutrients.

Wash the lemon thoroughly and peel it for 1cm width.

Put the lemon peel and chickpeas into the pressure cooker and cook them for 20-25 minutes on high pressure.

Check the doneness and cool them down completely. Wait, don’t throw away that beautiful aquafaba!

Put the chickpeas to a blender or a hand mixer container with the aquafaba, olive oil, tahini, garlic powder (adjust to the taste), salt, and lemon juice. Blend all very well till smooth.

Store it in a glass container.

After blending, the chickpeas will still absorb more water so make the hummus a bit more watery consistency than you would like to have.

2. Carrot Hummus

Ingredients

Basic hummus ingredients +

Apple vinegar 1 Tbsp (instead of lemon juice)

1 big carrot

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1tsp

Pinch of pepper

How to make it

Cut the carrot into similar size pieces.

Preheat the oven for 180C/380F

Put the carrot pieces to a oven tray and put the 1 tsp Olive oil with pinch of salt & pepper, cumin seeds. Baked them for 20-25 mins.

Prepare the same as above basic hummus recipe #6 and add carrots, tumeric powder, and pepper to the blender. Blend all very well till smooth.

Store it in a glass container.

3. Beet Hummus

Ingredients

Basic hummus ingredients +

Apple vinegar 1 Tbsp (instead of lemon juice)

1 Medium size red beet

Dried thyme 1 tsp

Rosemary 1/2 tsp

Grind coffee a pinch

Extra virgin olive oil

How to make it

Wash the beets very well and remove long rooty parts if there’s any.

Put it on a aluminum foil and add olive oil, salt & pepper to taste.

An important tip here!Adding a pinch of coffee powder will make its earthiness pop up naturally and make it more flavorful.

Wrap the beet well and put it to oven. Roast it for 25 mins.

Once the beets are well cooked, cool it down and peel them off.

Add it to the same as above basic hummus recipe #6 with thyme and rosemary.

Store it in a glass container.

These hummus will last in your fridge for about a week!

I wish you give this recipe a try and let me know if you had any questions or feedback to it! Wish you a joyful and healthy day! 🙂